At the semiconductor technology seminar held in December 2023, Professor Richard Henry Friend from the University of Cambridge emphasized: that semiconductors are the foundational technology for many current technological solutions. Systems ranging from energy, and telecommunications, to computing all require semiconductors. Semiconductors play a crucial role in development, opening up many opportunities and attracting various industries.

Professor Teck-Seng Low, Senior Vice President of the National University of Singapore, predicted that semiconductor technology would be the “backbone” of development for many industries and would attract talent to countries.

Vietnam has been attracting an increasing number of major corporations in the semiconductor industry from the United States, South Korea, Taiwan (China), etc. At a recent Vietnam Business Summit, Linda Tan, President of the Southeast Asia Semiconductor Industry Association, mentioned a study predicting that Vietnam’s semiconductor market would grow by 6.12% in the period 2022-2027.

According to experts, Vietnam is currently facing a great opportunity to penetrate the supply chain and promote the development of the semiconductor industry. Vietnam has key advantages to seize this opportunity with the participation of relevant parties, attracting investment, and developing a sustainable ecosystem.

By participating in the global semiconductor market, Vietnam will gain opportunities worth billions of USD. It is forecasted that by 2024, Vietnam’s semiconductor industry will surpass $6.16 billion.

2023 marked a vibrant year for Vietnam’s semiconductor industry. Vietnam’s semiconductor sector is emerging as a destination for many semiconductor manufacturers, attracting the attention and presence of leading global giants.

Mr. Trinh Khac Hue, General Director of Qorvo Vietnam Corporation, commented: Vietnam is on the threshold of potential for developing chips and semiconductors thanks to its stable political system, abundant labor force, and systematic training. With many favorable conditions, semiconductor chip development in Vietnam is an inevitable trend.

“At present, Vietnam has attracted the attention of many large enterprises and corporations participating in the semiconductor equipment, packaging, and testing industry such as Qorvo, Synopsis, Marvel, Renesas, Intel, Amkor, Hana Microns, etc. These large corporations will help share experiences and in-depth knowledge with domestic partners in creating Make in Vietnam products,” Mr. Hue said.

In addition to foreign projects, Vietnam has some domestic enterprises participating in chip research and production, such as FPT Semiconductor, CMC, Viettel. This will be the path for Vietnam to further participate in the global semiconductor chip industry.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam has many potentials and opportunities to develop the semiconductor industry ecosystem. Vietnam has the necessary conditions and factors to develop the semiconductor industry with a stable political system and favorable geographical location. The government, especially Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, is very interested in promoting investment cooperation and developing the semiconductor industry in Vietnam.

In the report at the recent National Assembly session on key tasks, solutions for 2024 and the future, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized: strong development of industries, especially processing, manufacturing, semiconductor chip production, focusing on training high-quality human resources for emerging industries and sectors, with a focus on training 50 – 100 thousand high-quality human resources for the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry in the period 2025-2030.

Currently, the semiconductor industry development strategy until 2030 and vision until 2035 are being formulated. Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung stated that the strategy would outline the vision, goals, roadmap, tasks, solutions, and special incentives of Vietnam for developing the electronics industry in general and the semiconductor industry in particular. The key task is to accelerate Vietnam’s participation in the semiconductor ecosystem in the region, attract global semiconductor companies to invest, and conduct research and development in Vietnam.

A highlight is the recent visit to Vietnam by the President of the United States, which upgraded the bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The joint statement of the two countries has identified innovation and development, including semiconductor industry development, as one of the strategic cooperation contents. Vietnam and the United States have announced the launch of initiatives to develop semiconductor human resources, with the United States providing an initial “seed” funding of $2 million.

This is seen as a new step for Vietnam on the path to penetrate the semiconductor industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

During his visit and work trip to the United States in September 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made contact with leading semiconductor corporations in the US such as Nvidia, Synopsys…

The Chairman of Nvidia Group expressed a desire to enhance cooperation with Vietnam in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI); at the same time, they hoped Vietnam could become a manufacturing hub for the corporation in Southeast Asia. The Nvidia Chairman believed that Vietnam would become Nvidia’s second home and largest center.

Commenting on the Nvidia Chairman’s remarks during his visit to Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Anh Thi, Head of the Management Board of Ho Chi Minh City’s Technology Park, stated that “Vietnam has three conditions to become Nvidia’s second home, namely data, human resources, and information technology infrastructure directly serving AI.”

During a bilateral program in Japan in December 2023, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also met and worked with leading Japanese corporations and enterprises on cooperation in the development of semiconductor chips and ecosystems. The Prime Minister proposed that large Japanese semiconductor companies enhance cooperation, investment, and development of the semiconductor industry ecosystem in all three stages: design, construction of chip manufacturing plants, and packaging and testing.

It can be seen that Vietnam has been taking strong actions for cooperation and development in the semiconductor industry; at the same time, there are attractive investment incentive mechanisms for semiconductor enterprises. Semiconductor investment projects in the high-tech sector will enjoy the highest incentives under Vietnamese law.

Vietnam has established a National Innovation Center and three high-tech zones nationwide, ready to welcome semiconductor investors with high preferential policies. This will be an important bridge to support the development of Vietnam’s semiconductor ecosystem.

According to experts, Japan, South Korea, the United States… having strategies to cooperate with Vietnam in recent times, especially regarding semiconductors, is a very good opportunity to develop this industry strongly in the future.

The semiconductor chip production process has three main stages: design, manufacturing, packaging, and quality testing. In the short term, Vietnam should prioritize the design stage, which will require high-quality human resources. Vietnam currently has about 5,000 engineers working in this field.

Experts believe that the potential for Vietnam to participate in the value chain is very large. Vietnam has comparative advantages such as small-scale IC design, testing, packaging with strong participation of foreign partners. In the semiconductor value chain, Vietnam can consider participating in suitable and advantageous stages. In the long run, Vietnam can become a strong player in this field.

According to experts, Vietnam is doing very well in the design phase and should focus on it. This will help Vietnam optimize resources, minimize risks, and gradually master the technology.

On the other hand, currently about 75% of semiconductor products on the market are above 28nm. This is an opportunity for developing countries when they have capable engineers to design and manufacture chips from 28nm and above. Vietnam can participate in various steps, from providing manpower, services, partial design to complete design.

Southeast Asia is one of the hubs for semiconductor packaging. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have large semiconductor packaging factories, supplying 30-40% of global semiconductor packaging. This is a favorable condition for Vietnam to continue developing supporting industries, developing human resources, and supporting enterprises to invest in packaging factories.

Professor Sadasivan Shankar from Stanford University, USA, stated that chip packaging is also an opportunity for Vietnam to seize. Participating countries should start from a small scale and gradually develop their capabilities.

Looking at semiconductors from the perspective of electronic industry development, at the National Digital Technology Enterprise Development Forum in Vietnam in 2023, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa, Chairman of the Software and Information Technology Services Association (Vinasa), CEO of FPT, emphasized: in the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry, the design part accounts for only about $550 billion, but the electronic industry will be $3,500 billion and is forecasted to reach nearly $5,000 billion by 2030. “Therefore, semiconductor development needs to be closely linked with the electronics industry,” Mr. Khoa emphasized.

Semiconductor chips are likened to the blood vessels in the economy because all electronic devices have chips. The electronic industry that is developing is the output for chips. On the other hand, Vietnam is promoting digital transformation. The digital transformation process requires parallel development of hardware and software, mastering core technologies including semiconductor chips.

In line with this view, Mr. Thi affirmed that electronics and semiconductors must go hand in hand. According to statistics, with only 1% contribution, semiconductors will generate 7 times the growth for the electronics industry.

Vietnam is facing a very large opportunity and has advantages to rise in the semiconductor industry. In Asia, Japan, South Korea, China… are leading in the semiconductor industry. Vietnam also has full advantages to seize this golden opportunity.

Mr. Khoa believes that in the short term, it is necessary to focus on design, packaging, and testing; in the medium term, we will together build complexes, chains to participate in chip manufacturing technologies (especially at 28nm and above); in the long term, Vietnamese enterprises need to master core technologies and focus on fields that are developing strongly worldwide such as energy, electric vehicles, IoT, and integrate AI into chips.

According to experts, when there are legal corridors and support mechanisms to promote, Vietnamese enterprises will create technology legacies and participate in global chip supply chains.

The door to development, participating in the semiconductor ecosystem is wide open to Vietnam, but there is still much to be done. In which, it is necessary to focus on consolidating the development of the semiconductor ecosystem, developing high-quality human resources, creating conditions to attract Vietnamese talents abroad, promoting the development of domestic enterprises, attracting investment in semiconductor electronics.

Although the opportunities are immense, Vietnam’s semiconductor industry is also facing challenges, with the biggest barrier being a severe shortage of human resources, especially skilled engineers. Therefore, experts believe that to develop the semiconductor industry, the most suitable and realistic approach for Vietnam at present is to develop semiconductor human resources to meet demand. With the current advantages and ready infrastructure, when having high-quality, in-depth human resources, Vietnam will attract many “technology eagles” to land.

Source: vneconomy.vn